


Remembering Cody

by deepseaCritter



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Memories, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, war nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 21:04:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13016106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepseaCritter/pseuds/deepseaCritter
Summary: Even though Cody caused Wolffe a lot of trouble, he was always there when Wolffe needed him.





	Remembering Cody

**Author's Note:**

> Normally I like writing about the shenanigans these two get into, but I wanted something that highlighted the serious side of their relationship (as brothers).

From the escape pod viewport, Wolffe watched as the _Triumphant_ exploded into pieces. So many had never made it off the ship. The few that had managed to escape were now slowly being hunted down and eliminated by the pod hunters that had been released from the _Malevolence_. He watched as the hunters cracked open each pod…saw the bodies of his brothers as they floated lifeless…he accepted his death as the hunters attacked their last, and final target…

Wolffe woke with a start, covered in cold sweat. Was he there or here? _Where was here?_ He took a breath, trying to calm himself. The quiet hum of the barrack’s air filtration system told him he was safe. Safe on land, safe with his brothers. It had been a nightmare, but so close to reality…as if he was there. It was so vivid, he could smell the frying circuits and hear the transparisteel crack as the hunters started to crush the pod. He shook his head, trying to clear the memory. Trying to sleep again was not an option, not if he was going to end up in that pod again. Wolffe put on his boots and decided to head to the mess. Morning muster was still hours away, so a cup or two of caf would help keep him awake.

The mess hall was empty, which Wolffe expected. There were only a few troopers on late night rotation, and most of them had already stopped by the mess for a late-night meal. He grabbed two cups of caf, and sat down at a table in a far corner of the hall. It quiet and peaceful…so it was a good place to wait out the morning.

He was staring at absolutely nothing, on his fourth cup of caf, trying hard to forget his nightmare and not paying any particular attention to his surroundings, when he felt the bench jolt as a body plopped down right next to him at the table.

“Can’t sleep?”

_Kirffing hells…Cody_. Well, he wanted a diversion, just maybe not such an annoying one. Wolffe didn’t answer and took a large swig of caf.

“You look like hell, Wolffe. Maybe you should lay off the caf and get some sleep.”

It should have been a joke, but Cody’s tone was serious. Wolffe looked at him, and could see the concern on the other clone’s face.

“Sleep isn’t the problem.” Another swig of caf. He would need another cup soon.

Cody was silent for a few minutes, just looking at Wolffe as if trying to figure out what to say. Wolffe’s pain was still relatively new. It had only been a few months, a few short chaotic months, and he was already in command of a new battalion. Cody had a tremendous amount of respect for the man, who had shown such fierce determination to become a stronger and better leader. He understood perfectly what was happening with Wolffe. He had experienced traumatic losses as well. He knew the man’s pain, knew what hells could be unleased when he went to sleep. Cody himself had just woken up from a battlefield terror…sometimes those things never left you.

“Listen, Wolffe. I know I can be an ass sometimes…”

Wolffe snorted at that. “ _Sometimes?_ ”

“Ok, maybe more than sometimes. But that’s besides the point. Just know that I understand. You’re not alone in this. You’ve suffered more than most, lost more than most of the commanders here. I wasn’t there, but if you ever want to talk about it…”

“ _I don’t_.”

“You might. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not months from now. But if you ever want to talk, I will be here for you. I will always be here for you, vod. Just know that.”

Cody got up to leave, and patted Wolffe on the head as he walked away. Wolffe always hated that, which is why Cody kept doing it. They were brothers, after all.

\--------

Same dream, same place.

Wolffe bolted up in his bed. The nightmare was still as real as the day it happened, and he shook from the shock of it. As usual, he put on his boots and stumbled from his room towards the mess hall. Cody would be sitting there, at that table in the back corner, with a caf ready for Wolffe. Just like he had that day after he talked about the nightmare. Just like always. Cody had been true to his word, and he had always been there for Wolffe. Yes, Cody still was a little shit, and still took every opportunity to get on Wolffe’s every last nerve…but he was also there when Wolffe needed to talk about the bad things. The things that kept waking him up, the things that haunted his sleep.

Hells, he had to talk to Cody. _He needed to talk to Cody._

Wolffe reached where the mess should have been, and stopped. Where was the mess hall? Things didn’t look right, and he couldn’t figure out why. _Where was he? When was he?_ _Was this still part of the nightmare?_

The lumbering movements of the AT-TE made him lose his balance, and Wolffe fell against the wall. Reality punched a hole through his fog, and he sank to the floor as he remembered where he was. This was a nightmare alright, but it was unfortunately his real life. He was on Seelos, far away from in time and space from the places and brothers he had known during the war.

There was no barracks. There was no mess hall. There was no caf. There was no Cody.

_There was no Cody._

The one person Wolffe could count on to always be there for him was gone. He had disappeared years ago. Wolffe had tried to find him, but he was just… _gone_. A profound grief overtook the former commander as he sat and cried in the belly of that AT-TE.

“Cody…where are you?”

 


End file.
